dominant trait

Cultural  

1. In genetics, a trait that will appear in the offspring if one of the parents contributes it. (Compare recessive trait.)

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In humans, dark hair is a dominant trait; if one parent contributes a gene for dark hair and the other contributes a gene for light hair, the child will have dark hair.

Example Sentences

A single dominant trait can reshape competition and alter the balance within a species in a short time.

From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026

If the traits are inherited as dominant and recessive, the F1 offspring will all exhibit the same phenotype as the parent homozygous for the dominant trait.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

And the pattern of tusklessness in families confirmed the scientists’ hunch: It seems to be a dominant trait, carried by females, that is lethal to males.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2021

Jackassuredness: The dominant trait of that braggart at the bar.

From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2019

Dwelling on these they have become blind to the essential family likeness to that old stock which still remains their dominant trait.

From The Twentieth Century American Being a Comparative Study of the Peoples of the Two Great Anglo-Saxon Nations by Robinson, Harry Perry